Use VoiceOver on your Apple TV

VoiceOver lets you control your Apple TV without seeing the screen. You can use simple gestures on the Touch surface of your Siri Remote* to move around the screen, then listen as VoiceOver speaks each item.

When you highlight an item on your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV (4th generation), VoiceOver speaks the item and any associated text. After a short delay, VoiceOver speaks any remaining text items on the screen, such as movie descriptions or actor listings. Learn how to turn on VoiceOver.

Use the VoiceOver rotor to control your Apple TV

Rotate two fingers around a point on the Touch surface of your Siri Remote or Apple TV Remote* to open the VoiceOver rotor, which contains additional controls. The available rotor controls change depending on where you are.

Navigate the screen

You can use two different modes to read items on the screen: Navigate and Explore.

Navigate is the default mode that accepts standard gestures.

Move your selection: Swipe up, down, left, or right.

Select the previous or next rotor control: Rotate two fingers left or right.

Adjust a rotor control: Swipe up or down. For example, to adjust speech rate, rotate two fingers until the VoiceOver speech rate rotor control is selected. Then swipe up or down to increase or decrease the speech rate.

Speak the current text item, then continue to the bottom of the screen: Swipe down with two fingers.

Speak the items on screen, starting at the top: Swipe up with two fingers or press and hold the Play button.

Pause speaking: Tap once with two fingers. Tap again with two fingers to resume or select another item.

Speak the current text item on the screen, then continue until you're ready to stop: Rest one finger on the left side of the Touch surface, then drag your finger to the right. VoiceOver will speak each element on the screen until you lift your finger.

Explore lets you hear additional content on a screen. For example, open a movie in the Movies app and rotor to Explorer mode, then swipe up or down. VoiceOver will cycle through the text on screen. Just drag your finger over the Touch surface to hear each menu item that you select.

Choose a custom rotor action

To perform a custom rotor action, rotate two fingers until Custom Actions is selected in the rotor. Swipe up or down to hear each custom action, then click the Touch surface to perform an action.

Use DirectTouch

DirectTouch allows you to customize the Touch surface on your remote, so you can customize standard gestures. Learn what each setting does below.

Keyboards

DirectTouch Off: When you swipe left and right, you highlight one character at a time.

DirectTouch On: Depending on how quickly you swipe, you can skip multiple characters with each swipe.

Lists

DirectTouch Off: When you swipe left and right, you highlight one item at a time.

DirectTouch On: Depending on how quickly you swipe, you can skip multiple items with each swipe.

Apps based on gestures

DirectTouch Off: Swipe right and left to try to highlight one element at at time. If there are no elements in the app (like a game), you might not select anything.

DirectTouch On: Gestures are based on the app's settings. For example, in a game, swiping might move your character around.

Speak hints

VoiceOver will only speak the hint for an item if the selected item isn't part of the previously spoken hint. To hear a hint again, swipe up with two fingers or hold down the Play button.

*Siri availability varies by country or region and language. Apple TV 4K and Apple TV (4th generation) ships with the same remote everywhere. In countries and regions that support Siri, the remote is called Siri Remote. Elsewhere, it’s called Apple TV Remote. Siri works on either remote as long as your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV (4th generation) is set up with a language and country or region that supports Siri.